The import of arecanut has come down significantly boosting the prices of the nut at domestic markets after the Centre increased the minimum import price (MIP) for arecanut from Rs.162 a kg to Rs251 in January.

In a reply to a question in Lok Sabha, the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry said that the import of arecanut to the country came down from 16,151 tonnes during 2016-17 to 7,620 tonnes till August of 2017-18.

The country imported 50,036 tonnes of arecanut in 2014-15, and 45,190 tonnes in 2015-16.

The import of the commodity has been coming down with the increase in MIP from Rs110 a kg to Rs162 on June 8, 2015 and from Rs162 to rs251 on January 17.

The Ministry said that the price of arecanut increased from Rs150/kg in January to Rs195 in March in Kozhikode market after the MIP was fixed at Rs251 a kg in January.

In Sagar (Karnataka), the price increased from Rs266/kg in December 2016 to Rs350 in March after fixation of MIP on arecanut.

The Ministry informed the Lok Sabha that the increase in the minimum import price of arecanuts has resulted into benefits for arecanut growers.